Due to the crippling law and order situation and labour unrest, international investors’ confidence has been undermined by the lack of safety in foreign manufacturing and industrial facilities in Bangladesh.
Another factor contributing to the deteriorating mood of investors is the sparse deployment of industrial police in some places. Many foreign company representatives claim that in certain industrial zones, there is no functional authority to which they may go for protection.
To end the crisis and get things back up and running, several investors are currently negotiating with the leaders of the Collective Bargaining Agents (CBAs), with the main focus of labour demands being wage increases.
Investors also said it was unusual that workers had placed charters of demand abruptly in the middle of the year and against the backdrop of a regime change, suspecting that perhaps a section of outsiders is taking advantage of the policing vacuum.
There have not only been disruptions to production workers but, in some cases, also tried to vandalise manufacturing units. For instance, workers attacked a shoe factory operated by a foreign company in the Tongi area this week.
Furthermore, foreign investors worry that their units may be affected if the labour unrest persists. The retail director of Bangladesh’s Bata Shoe Company, Arfanul Hoque, stated that in addition to enlisting the aid of the police, they also bargained with the workers to bring the situation under control.
Hoque stated that although the unit’s production was impacted, things are now gradually returning to normal as the management has acceded to the workers’ demands for a salary increase. Over the previous week, about 600 permanent employees and 800 outsourced employees made their demands known.
He did, however, add that industrial police were on hand to assist because their plant is situated in a significant industrial hub.